Yahoo giving entirely different results than Google

Did I miss anything?

[yosmc]

Do searches for "usa america" on Google and Yahoo - the results are entirely different! Just wondering... it's definitely not because of Inktomi or Overture results. I've always thought that Yahoo can only filter results, but that they can't change the algo. Does this prove the opposite?

[steveb]

exact same results here.

[pmac]

A couple of terms I follow see Y! delivering completely different results than Google.

Sticky me for an example if you like.

[new_shoes]

I also see quite different results. I assume it's related to geography - I'm located in Scandinavia.

[PaulPaul]

Same results here. California.

[ReRun]

Try keyword "furniture"...these are different too.

Also not Ink or Overture in this case.

[top5jamaica]

i'm seeing very different results for the 'furniture' search and slightly different results for a couple others that i tried. hmmm .... whats cooking

[allanp73]

I posted this same topic several days ago and we ened up thinking it was do to the dance. However, now the dance is over I still see different results. Not just Yahoo, but AOL as well. The term "San Diego homes for sale" (sorry to post the specific search, but it is necessary in this case.

[pmac]

This isn't something that just happened. It's been like this for quite a while now. (for the terms I follow)

[toddb]

I am number 4 and 5 for a couple of searchs on Google and I don't show up in the top 60 on yahoo. I always thought it was that i don't have a yahoo directory listing.

[ReRun]

Toddb - We're also early in Google, but nowhere to be found on Yahoo. We do have a directory listing.

Try using yahoo advanced search for the same search terms - you'll see pure google results.

Pmac is right - this has been like this for a while. I can't figure out where the regular yahoo results come from.

[steveb]

very strange. I do see the different furniture but everything I follow is precisely the same.

[1milehgh80210]

[webmasterworld.com...]

[austtr]

Are you perhaps seeing differences because one set of results is using Yahoo.com and the different results are from a regional Yahoo?

Yahoo.com is showing me straight Google results.... but the same search in a regional Yahoo gives very different results.

[allanp73]

I don't think it is a regional effect. Especially because when I am searching yahoo.com and using terms outside of my region. Example non-local city keyword.
I wonder if Yahoo is using only part of Google's results and many incorporating Inktomi in the mix.

[new_shoes]

rerun and yosmc - what continent are you on?

[Tropical Island]

I just did a search on Yahoo from Venezuela and the results for our top 2 terms are totally different than Google (better for us actually). When I went to anonymizer to check US results they are also completely different. Looks like Google is not providing results for the main search.

[yosmc]

I'm in Europe - but I've noticed a drop in traffic from my American visitors (as I'm only #3 on Yahoo for one of my main keywords - #1 on Google), so I would suppose that it's basically the same everywhere.

[ReRun]

North America here. I agree with Trop_Island...for some terms it seems like Google isn't providing the results for Yahoo's main search.

It may be only for generic terms:

Furniture: Mystery results for main search
Furniture Sales: Google results for main search

(Advanced search for both terms is pure Google.)

If this is the case, it would be interesting to know how results for generic terms are generated.

I can't find any correlation with Ink, Overture, etc.

[Tropical Island]

The two terms I researched were "regional name" in English and "regional name" is Spanish. Are these generic?

[ReRun]

Trop_Island - no, that doesn't seem particularly generic...

I was thinking that for hotly-contested generic keywords for products (furniture, cars, etc.) Yahoo might be generating their own set of results from their directory.

Your experience would suggest this isn't the case.

(As would the fact that Yahoo would presumably let people know how to get listed for these "generic" terms ($) and hasn't.)

Anyone else have ideas on where these results are pulled from?

[allanp73]

I know that Yahoo does add additional weight to elements within a listing which gives slightly different rankings then Google. For example a site with url of keyword-keyword.com will rank better on Yahoo. Also I gives a slight preferance for sites listed in it's own directory. These factors usually will raise a listing from 1-3 positions. However with this in mind some of the results are way different on Yahoo then Google. I have some sites which #1 on Google showing up #12 and others which #7 on Google showing up in #81 position on Yahoo.
One other guess is Yahoo has been know to track click through rates. Since could be seen when it used to show sites which were popular in it's categories. So if a site jumped in rankings on Google then it might not on Yahoo because past click through history won't warrant such a jump.
This is just a theory and I would love to hear better. Maybe someone from Yahoo can comment? ;)

[allanp73]

I just wanted to point that both AOL and Yahoo have the same results which are very different than Google. So what's going on?

[yosmc]

Allan, right now I go with your theory of click through tracking, until I hear anything better. My own impression was that Yahoo is more likely to show different results if it's a popular keyword (combination), and these two ideas go pretty well together.

The actual reason I started this thread was to find out if there is anything that can be done to optimize for Yahoo. If this explanation is right, the answer would be "no".

[allanp73]

Normally optimizing for Yahoo requires only as I said before a good URL (hyphened), having the keywords in the title and description, and a Yahoo directory link might help slightly.
But the results I'm seeing are very different.
I looked at several terms and noticed the Yahoo is re-ranking the results.
For example for the following top four sites (call them A-D) on Google they appear in the following positions on Yahoo:
A #1, B #5, C #2 (C has a Yahoo listing) , D #17

On another search again using the top 4 on Google as A-D
A #12, B #9, C #39 D#3

If you really want to hear a conspiracy theory; Yahoo is out to get me. Because in case 1, D was my site and in case 2 A & C were my sites.
Do you think Yahoo knows where I live? ;)

[budterm]

I'm in North America, seeing identical results for one competitive search, and slightly modified results for another. The modified results have some reshuffling, and some new sites added in the first few spots.

[yosmc]

Just for clarification: "optimizing for Yahoo" = additional things you can do when you have already optimized for Google but Yahoo won't give you the same good ranking

I'm also pretty sure that Yahoo is reshuffling some results rather that filtering out (like AOL sometimes does) or throwing new results in. I think that the majority of people in here would have more reason to complain about Yahoo's reshuffling than be happy about it. If we are right with our click-through theory, then big, well-established companies and brand names get an extra boost from Yahoo (because they attract more clicks), and that's something you can't counter even with your best SEO techniques.

[mediaman]

This is what I was saying a couple days ago and nobody would respond!

Can someone confirm that Y!/AOL is showing last months Google results? I think it is due to the outage Google experienced recently.

What do you guys think? Someone save a copy of last months results?

[Rossie]

Hi there,

based in London, England - getting identical Yahoo com & Google com results for all search phrases I try, including "San Diego homes for sale" as mentioned in a previous message.

Rossie

[allanp73]

Actually, it was me who posted the original observation that Yahoo was showing different results. (At that time not many people commented, atleast it seems the topic is now getting the attention it deserves) The click through theory is just my guess. I only said this because it seemed to fit the circumstance.
It is a big fear if true because as a future concern it will make it very difficult for newer small business sites to be successful on the search engines.
I hope that a better theory (which is the real reason) is discovered soon.
Though I did notice that both AOL of Yahoo have the same results and it seems unlikely that they would work together or have access to the same clickthrough statistics.